Minutes for Full Council meeting - 16th September 2017

Public Recess

No comment

Co-opt of new Councillor

Cllr Brady introduced Andrew McDonald and John Short to the Council, inviting each candidate to present a short bio and the reason why they felt they would be suitable for the role. The candidates were advised that following their presentations they would be asked to leave the room while the Council voted.

Both candidates briefed the Council, took questions from Cllrs and then left the room.

Cllr Harris requested a private ballot, which Cllr Hill seconded.

The vote was returned by majority in favour of Andrew McDonald being co-opted as new Cllr.

Both candidates returned to the room where Cllr Brady welcomed Cllr McDonald to the Council and thanked John Short for his time and advised we would keep his details on record pending a future casual vacancy.

Cllr McDonald signed the Acceptance of Office book and joined the Council at the table.

17/64 Declarations of interests

None

17/65 Approval of minutes from 14th August 2017

Page 1 = change “pallets” to “crates”.
Page 3 = Alter Cllr Bates’ comments in regards to Turnball one way proposal.

A proposal was made by Cllr Hill that these minutes be therefore accepted; Cllr Rawlings seconded this and all Cllrs were in favour.

17/66 Matters arising and action points

Matters arising

Cllr Hill asked after the current situation with the Facilities Management tenders.

The Clerk advised that 3 new tenders had come forward, so with the help of Cllr Henderson they are short listing the candidates and will present them to the 21st Sept Finance meeting, for a referral to October full council.

Action Points

Clerk:

Public Recess 14th August. Add to Transport agenda the problem of vehicles using Butts Road/High Street that are unsuitable for the road. DONE
17/54. Finance Committee to approve costs of painting inside of Rec Hall, new floor and repairs to wall. ONGOING, QUOTES ARE IN PROGRESS
17/56. Add to Transport agenda the proposal of Turnball being one way – to be looked at in conjunction to entire village with input from Transport expert. DONE
17/62. Report to Ward Cllrs that grass going down to M4 on path is overgrown and M4 sign is becoming covered by tree branches. DONE
17/63. Investigate broken fence at Slipper Lane path to see if it is a danger to the public. TO ASK RESIDENT TO FIX AS IS A HAZARD

Cllr Shaw:

17/53. School Transport Changes in 2018. Investigate update and let Clerk know. UPDATED DOCUMENT RECEIVED. CHILDREN TRAVELLING TO WROUGHTON CAN STILL PURCHASE PASS FOR COMMERCIAL SERVICE
17/53. Request map of area of Butts Road to be resurfaced and pass to Clerk. WILL PASS ON ONCE AVAILABLE
17/62. Report to SBC that bus stop at Draycot Foliat is not visible due to overgrown hedge. DONE. SITE VISIT HAS HAPPENED AND IMPROVEMENTS TO BE MADE
17/44. Reconfigure the committee budgets for change to committee structure. WILL HAPPEN ONCE RESTRUCTURE FINALISED

Cllr Hill requested that a letter be sent to Ward Cllr Sumner for his work in keeping the school transport service route for Wroughton. The Council supported this and the Clerk will action this.

Cllr Hill advised that Nigel Hale met with Ward Cllr Shaw and himself at the Draycot Foliat bus stop and the hedges are to be cut back and the bus stop moved to the other side of the road to improve its visibility.

17/67 Restructuring of Committee

Cllr Hill thanked Cllr Brady for preparing the paper for the Cllrs, Cllr Walton seconded this.

The Cllrs were given time to read the paper and then Cllr Brady advised the 3 steps to consider.

The working model & operational process of the new committee structure
The membership of each committee
The meeting frequency

Working model – Cllr Brady read through the proposed model using the Environment, General Purpose and Amenities Committee as a working example.
Under this committee items high level topics such as Parishing, Buildings & Amenities, Village Appearance would always feature on the agenda, whereas specific items such as allotments would only be included if there was an active issue/concern to discuss.
The First item of business for each committee will be to vote in a new Chair and Vice Chair.

Membership – initially until the new committees meet and discuss in detail membership levels it is proposed that the new committees are formed combining the existing membership of the current committees

Meeting frequency – Environment, General Purpose & Amenities Committee will meet monthly on the third Monday of the month. The Planning, Highways & transport development Committee and the Finance & Staffing will meet bi-monthly.

A proposal was then made by Cllr Costigan to accept this approach as the new operating process for the council’s committees. Cllr Hill seconded and all Cllrs were in favour.

The Clerk will send out a summary document summarising

membership of the new committee structure
schedule of new meeting dates to April 2018 including annual meetings.

17/68 Expenditure of £70.00 to assist Butts Road residents in removing excess vegetation from the area.

A risk assessment is required – Cllr Walton has agreed to assist

A proposal was made by Cllr Hill that the Council approve the expenditure of £70.00 on Butts Road. Cllr Walton seconded this vote and all Cllrs were in favour.

17/69 Ward Councillor’s reports.

Written reports had been provided and circulated to all Cllrs.

Cllr Hill commented that the zebra crossing on New Road had not been repainted yet. The Clerk had emailed Ward Cllr Shaw a few days prior to ask him to chase this up.

The Hodson Road works opening and closing times had been adhered to well by the contractors. Cllr Hill asked that the Clerk pass on thanks to the Ward Cllrs for their part in organizing this.

17/70 Community Safety

The Police report listing 5 thefts from unsecured vehicles had been circulated to the Cllrs. Cllr Sunners wanted the location of these so messages to residents could be targeted. No reply yet from PC Best or colleagues.

There are now 12 areas with new NHW signs. Cllr Sunners is talking to Wroughton NHW Co-ordinator about assisting them. The next NHW meeting is 25th September and all are invited.

Reports show there is a 16.3% increase in dwelling burglary and 23% increase in vehicle burglary.

There is a less confidence in the police and many people feel that less visibility is a problem.

Cllr Sunners asked Cllr Rawlings if Community Speed Watch wanted to offer any comments. Cllr Rawlings advised that the team are having to share the speed camera with Liddington Parish now and there are no spare camera’s available.

Cllr Rawlings advised that a vehicle in the Crescent recently had all 4 tyres slashed. This was reported to the police.

Cllr West asked if there was any way of farmers communicating thefts with each other to raise awareness. Cllr Sunners advised that there is a rural watch within Wiltshire Police.

Cllr Brady thanked Cllr Sunners on behalf of the Council for his work in the community in support of the Neighbourhood watch scheme.

17/71 Review of Committee minutes and documents

Finance: Cllr Harris advised that there has been no finance meeting since the last report. The accounts figures for August required approval. The figures had been sent to all Cllrs prior to the meeting. There were no questions on the figures and so Cllr Brady proposed the figures be accepted as accurate. Cllr Walton seconded this and all Cllrs were in favour.

Environment: Nothing to report.

Transport report from Cllr Hill: The overgrown Hodson bus stop will be looked at to cut back vegetation.

Recreation: The August Recreation minutes required a vote of acceptance.
Cllr Walton proposed the minutes accurate and to be accepted. Cllr Bates seconded this and all Recreation Cllrs at the meeting in August were in favour.

The Committee are still talking to the Tennis Club about a netball provision.

The 2 rockers for the CVPA will be ordered soon.

There is a leak in the pavilion. Cllr Sunners to liaise with Cllr Clarke on this.

The quotes for the Rec Hall are being organised.

The BIOS van should be back on the CVPA green now that school has started again.

Planning: The Planning Committee discussed going back to SBC in regards to the comments made by the developers at Burderop Park ref exits from the routes onto B roads. The Committee are not satisfied by the answer. Cllr Rawlings proposed the Clerk relay concerns back to SBC in this matter. Cllr Costigan seconded this and all planning members in favour.

Transport Development: No updates as no meeting since last full council meeting. The Clerk advised that A1 traffic flow plans were to be sent from SBC shortly.

17/72 AOB

Cllr Costigan asked after the Home Close nature area on Hodosn Road. The Environment, General Purpose and Amenities Committee will review this on Monday 18th Sept. After the area was flooded 5 years ago, a drain was put in. Access needs to be maintained to this drain.

Cllr Sunners went to the opening of the new dementia garden at the care home in Badbury.

Cllr Sunners commented on whether council Chair’s should have a stipend for their work? Should this be discussed?

The alleged rat problem at the Primary School was mentioned, it should be noted that the school employ a rat catcher.

Cllr Bates advised that the traffic lights on Hodson Road at the turn for Hodson village are not registering waiting vehicles so vehicles are damaging the grass verges.

Meeting closed at 21.27

Summary of Action Point